Mr Grinch
by girl with the sbahj tattoo
Summary: Sasuke cannot stand the holidays. -Oneshot/AU/giftfic-


_You're as cuddly as a cactus_

_You're as charming as an eel_

_Mr. Grinch_

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><p>Sasuke<em> hated<em> the holidays. He hated the cherry music and the gifts and the reason to gain seven extra pounds. Seven extra pounds he couldn't afford to gain. At all.

He hated the chilly air and his chapped lips with his feet so cold that they hurt. He hated the extra long lines at the store when he was trying to buy groceries. He hated the way everyone felt obligated to give him gifts that he didn't particularly want.

He couldn't stand the way he was dragged to parties where everyone would get drunk and too merry for his taste. He would always end up being the designated driver, lugging everyone around for at least an hour before he could finally go home and rest, only to be woken up by the damnable Christmas music.

He despised the radio, too, during the holidays.

He hated the Christmas specials that aired on the television hourly, it seemed. They would always be the only thing on during the day, and of course during the hours that he was awake, never when he was sleeping or at work.

He hated the smell of gingerbread that lingered in his nose during work, and the nutcrackers that were displayed in shop windows. He hated the way everyone smiled at him on the street, and the way retailers and waiters would always say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" to him.

He hated the way kids would get arrogant, too. They would always say "I want this!" or "I want that!" during the holiday season, only to have their parent tell them "Christmas is coming." It was a sure sign that they were spoiled brats who had no regard for earning things in their life.

To be short and sweet, Sasuke really did hate the holidays.

His theory was: "Why wait for the one time of the year to be nice and cherry to one another? Why can't you do that all the time?" Of course, he was naturally an asshole to everyone he met, thus he wasn't a hypocrite.

He had always been polite to people. Even his brother, when the time called for it. (And even to his father, on occasion.) Why was it that the people that normally hated his guts, told him to have a "Merry Christmas?" It baffled him. Most everyone in the town knew him (The place was small, after all.) and only a handful of the people that lived there could tolerate him.

That, of course, made them worthy of his time. His patience. His "Merry Christmas" and jolly good cheer. Well, it would if he had any.

The few people that really knew him did get him gifts, and some of them told him to "lighten up" and "get in the spirit." The spirit? The spirit of buying over-priced things that will end up being gathering dust in a few months? A few weeks? He generally accepted gifts from the said friends, though, since everything they gave him was practical.

They always ranged from scarves to books and from sweaters to gift cards. Things that would be used. And they knew him well enough to know that all he would do was bake a pie for Sakura's annual Christmas Eve party that he had not attended once.

He didn't like dragging Naruto home, of course, since he refused to let the Dobe stay at his place and it would be much too dangerous to let a drunken Naruto wander the streets aimlessly, looking for his way home only for a stranger to find him the next morning mugged and in a frozen puddle of his own piss and vomit. (It had happened before, Gaara's birthday bash when he turned 21)

So during the three days of what the ebony haired man dubbed "Hell's Gift Days," He stayed at home and relaxed. He always allowed those three days off for himself as vacation time. He would sit on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him and a cup of tea or coffee, depending on his mood. He would normally play video games or rent a bunch of movies he hadn't seen.

And always, at the same time every year, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto would knock at his apartment door around eleven or so on Christmas Eve.

"We just wanted to drop by," is what Sakura would say, but he could see the real meaning behind it. As much as they knew that he hated the holidays, they couldn't stand to let him be alone on Christmas Eve.

And really, honestly and truly, that was really the thing that he hated most of all: Being alone during the time he needed someone the most.

Even the reclusive loner needed someone, too, but of course, he would never in his life admit how happy it made him to know someone cared.

They would normally leave sometime early in the morning, before the sun rose to excited young children opening the store bought gifts that were defiantly _not_ from Santa. But that was okay for him. That was the only gift he did like: The gift of knowing that there was always someone out there thinking of him, even during the hypocritical holidays.

It seemed it was the only thing that kept him going through the time frame, year after year.

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><p><strong>(AN)I know the end is kinda alksdfj;asf stupid. But I wanted to have a "good" message in there ;a;**

** I hope you guys liked it**

**This is for Rozzie, my soulmate-kun C: I love you bby girl, and thank you so much for drawing me my husbando ;a;**

**PS: If you don't know the song at the top, you should be shot.**


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